To amend sections 2305.234, 2925.01, 2925.23, 2925.55, 2925.56, 3701.048, 3701.74, 3715.872, 3719.121, 3719.13, 3719.81, 4729.01, 4729.51, 4731.22, 4731.2210, 4731.25, 4743.09, 4755.48, 4761.01, 4761.03, 4761.032, 4761.06, 4761.061, 4761.07, 4761.09, 4761.13, 4761.14, 4761.17, 4761.30, 4761.99, 4765.51, 4769.01, 5123.47, 5164.95, and 5903.12 and to enact sections 4761.033, 4761.20, 4761.21, 4761.31, 4761.311, 4761.32, 4761.33, 4761.34, 4761.35, 4761.36, 4761.37, 4761.38, 4761.39, 4761.391, 4761.40, 4761.41, 4761.42, 4761.44, 4761.45, 4761.46, and 4761.49 of the Revised Code to license advanced practice respiratory therapists.
HB253 would create a new licensure framework for advanced practice respiratory therapists in Ohio. The bill defines the profession, sets education and examination requirements, requires board-issued licenses and prescriber numbers, and establishes renewal, reinstatement, and continuing education rules. It also authorizes these practitioners, when properly supervised by a physician, to perform a broader set of respiratory care services, order diagnostic and therapeutic services, and, if granted physician-delegated prescriptive authority, prescribe certain drugs and devices. The bill expressly prohibits advanced practice respiratory therapists from prescribing controlled substances, performing anesthesia, or practicing outside the supervision structure established in the act.
The bill also makes conforming changes across numerous statutes to incorporate advanced practice respiratory therapists into Ohio’s health-care regulatory system. Those changes affect medical board discipline and reporting provisions, drug and pharmacy laws, telehealth statutes, medical records access, emergency drug distribution protocols, volunteer immunity, Medicaid telehealth coverage, and developmental-disability in-home care provisions. In several places, the bill adds advanced practice respiratory therapists to lists of licensed health professionals, health care professionals, or practitioners who may participate in existing programs or whose conduct is subject to existing oversight.
HB253’s impact on state law is primarily regulatory: it creates a new licensed profession under Chapter 4761 and extends the State Medical Board’s authority to license, supervise, investigate, and discipline these practitioners. It also creates a physician-supervision model that places legal responsibility on the supervising physician, requires written supervision agreements and quality assurance systems, and allows the board to impose civil penalties and sanctions for noncompliance. Related amendments update criminal, pharmacy, telehealth, Medicaid, and facility statutes so the new license category fits within existing health-care delivery and enforcement structures.
The general sentiment reflected in the voting history is strongly favorable and noncontroversial. The bill received unanimous support in the House Health Committee and then passed the House 96-0, indicating broad bipartisan agreement on the need to recognize and regulate this profession. No committee transcript was provided, so there is no recorded floor or committee debate to suggest organized opposition.
The main points of contention are embedded in the policy design rather than in the recorded legislative history. The bill limits the new profession to a supervised practice model, requires a supervising physician with specific specialty training, and bars advanced practice respiratory therapists from independently performing anesthesia or prescribing controlled substances. Those restrictions suggest the legislature was balancing expanded practice authority against concerns about patient safety, scope of practice, and physician oversight. The bill also ties licensure to an active national qualification and continuing pharmacology education, which may reflect an effort to ensure competency and maintain professional standards.
HB253 would add a new licensed health-care profession to Ohio law and amend multiple chapters to recognize advanced practice respiratory therapists in licensing, discipline, telehealth, pharmacy, Medicaid, and related health-care statutes. It would expand the State Medical Board’s regulatory authority over respiratory care and create new supervision, prescriptive authority, and continuing education requirements for the profession, while also updating cross-references throughout the Revised Code to include the new license category.
The available voting history shows clear, unanimous support: the House Health Committee reported the bill favorably 13-0, and the full House passed it 96-0. No committee transcript is available, but the absence of recorded opposition and the unanimous votes suggest the bill was viewed as a technical professional licensure measure with broad support rather than a contentious policy change.
There is no documented floor or committee opposition in the provided materials. The likely substantive issues are the scope and limits of the new profession: the bill requires physician supervision, restricts advanced practice respiratory therapists from prescribing controlled substances or performing anesthesia, and makes the supervising physician legally responsible for the delegated services. Those provisions indicate the central policy tension is between expanding respiratory-care access and preserving physician oversight and patient-safety safeguards.